Chapter 78

October ran out of days and became November. Ella and I still worked all the hours we could, dividing out time between the farm and Serenity House. One day, as I walked across the ballroom floor, Warrens?head swung in my direction and then he crooked a discreet finger to summon me closer. The reserved butler never raised his voice. Wouldn't do to yell.

"A question for you, Evans," he said in his refined and clipped voice.

I placed the armload of clean linen on the tea trolley, now repurposed to carry medical supplies and blankets, and approached.

"Tell me, lad, can you drive a truck?"

I nodded. Once I proved a failure as a soldier, I trained as an orderly and at times drove the ambulance, ferrying wounded soldiers from the battlefield to the makeshift hospital.

"Good. Our usual driver has succumbed to the influenza." He nodded with his head to the end bed on the closest row. A tall, thin man lay under a sheet, his face covered in the sheen of perspiration. He didn't toss or turn b